Jacksonville's Immaculate Conception named a Minor Basilica

The oldest Catholic church in Jacksonville, and one of downtown's most historic structures, now has a new designation coming straight from Pope Francis in Rome.

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, begun in 1853, has been named a Minor Basilica due to its unique historical, artistic and religious importance to its community. It becomes one of 77 Catholic churches in the United States and six in Florida to be honored with the designation.

The Rev. Ed Murphy announced the honor during Thursday's noon Mass in the towering white Kentucky limestone church. The church's last pastor, the late Rev. Antonio Leon, had first requested the designation eight years ago, but the paperwork had been lost, Murphy said.

Current Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine Bishop Felipe Estevez renewed the request in May with Rome's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

The official letter from the apostolic office in Rome arrived recently confirming the honor.

""The comments I have gotten is it was long in coming and this is a great compliment to this great parish," Murphy said.

According to www.catholiceducation.org, "basilica" comes from a Greek word that means regal or kingly. The Catholic Church has four "Major Basilicas," all in Rome - St. Peter's, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls. The title "Minor Basilica" is applied to a church that has unusual historical significance or contains important religious relics.

There are more than 1,400 minor basilicas across the world, including the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine.

Dating back to the late 1700s, St. Augustine's cathedral was designated a Minor Basilica on Dec. 4, 1976, by Pope Paul VI, at the time the 27th American church honored with the designation.

Immaculate Conception began as a small wooden church that became a victim of the Civil War in 1863 when Union soldiers looted and torched the building. A second church built at the same site was dedicated in 1871. But when the 1901 fire destroyed much of downtown Jacksonville, it also gutted the second church.

The current church, with stained-glass windows made in Munich, Germany, was opened in 1910. At the time the tallest building in downtown, about 800 registered families attend services there now.

To receive the designation of a minor basilica, a church must be a center of active and pastoral liturgy with a vibrant Catholic community. In a news release issued Thursday, Estevez said Immaculate Conception was granted this designation because of its "historical and spiritual significance to the Diocese of St. Augustine and its worthiness of art and architecture."